What Will It Take?
What Will It Take For Me To Sincerely Pray To God & Receive An Answer?
Scriptures: Psalm. 76:4; 51:2-4a; Colossians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 14:14; Luke 2:25-32
Introduction
In my message last week I asked you “What will it take for us to give God thanks with a sincere heart?” This week in keeping with the topic, “What Will It Take….” I will focus on prayer. So my question to us this morning is “What will it take for us to sincerely pray to God and receive an answer?” As a reminder from last week, I am still making the same two assumptions that I made last week. The first assumption is that we believe in God and have some type of relationship with Him. The second assumption is that we know and trust God. I shared with you last week that there is a different between the two assumptions and hopefully you remember what the difference is.
So let’s talk about prayer for a moment. There are many definitions as to what prayer is but I want to give you the simplified meaning: having a conversation with God. Throughout the day we gave many conversations that we participate in. We talk to family and friends; co-workers; strangers, etc. Some of these conversations are meaningful and some are not. Some of these conversations require follow-up with answers and some do not. Sometimes we have conversations with people which require follow-up and we walk away thinking that we will never hear from the person again. Even though the importance of each conversation is different based on the content of the discussion, the fact is that a conversation takes place and there was something that was communicated between the two parties.
Now let’s take this to our conversations with God. The most common word for prayer in the New Testament is the word “proseuche” (pronounced “pros-yoo-khay). This word is used approximately 127 times in the New Testament. It is a compound of the words “pros” and “euche”. “Pros” is a preposition that means toward and can denote a sense of closeness. “Euche” is an old Greek word that describes a wish, desire, or vow. It was originally used to depict a person who made some kind of vow to God because of some need or desire in their life. As illustration of this from the Old Testament was Hannah, the mother of Samuel. She deeply desired a child and was not able to conceive. She prayed to God and made a solemn vow to Him that if He gave her a son she would give Him back to God. This word tells us that prayer should bring us into a close contact with God. It is much more than a mechanical act or formula to follow; it is a vehicle to bring us to a place whereby we may enjoy a close, intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.
We have all prayed at some point in our life. Sometimes we pray when we give thanks for our food while at other times we pray about our situations. Many times though we pray without an expectation and this is where we get into trouble. I will discuss this more in two weeks in part two. When we choose to pray can inform us if in this area of our faith walk we are operating as a situational Christian. Remember this term from last week? In case you’ve forgotten, a situational Christian is one that responds to God based on the situation. As it relates to prayer, we often offer to God three types of prayers when we choose to communicate with Him. The first one is when we have a need or are in trouble and we pray for help or deliverance. The second one is after we have received the help or deliverance we pray a short prayer of thanksgiving. The third is when we pray for others (intercessory prayer). In each situation we do the talking and as quickly as we can finish what we want to say, the conversation is over. We do not wait around for a response from God, it is a one way conversation. (Illustrate) (For those of you reading this you can’t see the illustration but one day you will as we begin to send our services out via the internet.)
In my message this morning I want to encourage you to think about how you communicate with God (your prayers) and how you listen for Him to respond. So let me give you just a quick review of ways we can talk with God.
I. Our Conversations With God
As I go through these examples, consider the conversations you’re having with God. Consider what I shared a few minutes ago about the Greek word for prayer. When we talk with God it should draw us into a close relationship with Him versus being something we do to get it done. Let’s start with adoration.
Adoration: David told God the following in Psalm 76:4: “You are resplendent, more majestic than the mountains of prey!” Have you ever told God how majestic He is? Have you ever taken the time just to adore Him without asking for anything?
Thanksgiving and Praise: I shared with you last week about giving thanks to God with a sincere heart. One of the ways in which we do this is through a prayer of thanksgiving. In this prayer the focus is on thanking God, not petitioning Him for anything, just a time of giving Him thanks.
Confession: When David sinned against God, he did much more than just ask God to forgive Him. He did more than just say, “I’m sorry O Lord”. Listen to what he said in Psalm 51:2-4a: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned….” Have you ever prayed a prayer of confession like this without someone telling you to?
Intercession: This is the prayer we pray when we are praying for others. A prayer of intercession is not about the one doing the prayer (that is a prayer of petition) but about the person being prayed for. Sometimes these individuals are not in a position to pray for themselves and need someone to stand in the gap for them. Paul made this statement in Colossians 1:9: “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” I know that you have prayed for someone else, but when you did it, did you expect results? Did you follow-up with the person to see if the prayer was answered?
Petition: This is one that we are very familiar with as it pertains to us petitioning God for something. I think this is one that we do pretty well. One thing I will ask though is what do you expect when you do it? Do you really believe that God will answer your prayer?
Unknown Tongues: This is one that some of you might not be familiar with. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 14:14:”For if I pray in a tongue (unknown), my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” This prayer is a prayer generated from within you through the Holy Spirit. You do not know what you’re saying, but your spirit and God does. Sometimes this prayer is the only one that will get us through a situation.
When you consider the conversations you have had with God during the past year, how many of the conversations were focused on petitioning Him for something? If our conversation with God only consists of our asking Him for something, then we are truly having a one-sided conversation that might not lead to many results. What will it take for you to sincerely pray to God and receive an answer? If you are currently praying to God about something I want you to raise your hand. If you are waiting for God to answer your prayer request and you are expecting Him to do it, raise your hand? Look around everyone, look at the number of hands that are raised.
Now I will not ask you to raise your hand on this question, but I am asking it for your consideration. While you are waiting for God to answer your prayer, how many times have you just thanked Him already even though the answer has not been manifested yet? How many prayers of adoration have you prayed since you’ve been going through? How many intercessory prayers have you prayed since you’ve been waiting on God to answer your prayer? I mean, really, while you’re in need, how many times have you prayed for others without any consideration of what your needs are?
When I asked the question “What will it take for us to sincerely pray to God and receive an answer?” it is because we pray a lot but we do not receive many answers. Many times our response to this is “Whatever happens must be the will of God!” If that were the case, why pray at all? If everything that happens to us is God’s will, why do we need to pray a prayer of petition? Consider this point: when it comes to a prayer of thanksgiving/praise or one of adoration, how can we pray those prayers when we have needs? How can we glorify God when we are thinking He is ignoring our requests? Even worst is when we have everything we need so we do not communicate with God at all! My point with this is that our communication with God in all forms should not be based solely on our responding to Him based on a need that we have or one that has been met. We should communicate with Him often because we want to be in His presence! How blessed we will be when we start talking to Him because we just want to talk to Him? How blessed we will become when we start talking to Him and are able to hear His responses as we’re going through.
About two week ago I was going through a situation and I had been praying to God about. I thought I knew what my options were and I knew what I wanted to do about the situation and the option I wanted to take. As I continued to think and meditate on the situation, I went down to my office and to start working on the message I delivered last week. As I sat in my chair before I could type the first word, God spoke to me and told me to get up and go do the very thing that I did not want to do. I paused to ensure that I had heard correctly (actually I was considering if there was a way out without me having to do it) but there was none. He made it very clear what I was to do. I will tell you that it scared me to take that action. Two hours after I had taken the action, the situation began to resolve itself. Had I not taken that action when God told me to the situation would have gotten worst.
II. What Is Your Worst Case Scenario?
I cannot cover everything in this message that I want to share with you. As you know, next week Rev. Fulks will bring the ordination message for Deacon Stacey’s ordination so I will not be able to complete this message until the 3rd Sunday. In that message I will focus on the second part of the question that I asked you today and that is about receiving an answer. I will talk more about why we do not always receive an answer when we pray. It is too complicated for me to include in this message. However, before I close, I want you to consider your worst case scenario that scenario that will make you have conversations with God in ways you have never thought possible.
What will it take for each of us to sincerely enter into a conversation (prayer) with God that is not just centered on our asking something of Him? What will it take for us to us to pray a prayer of adoration; of praise; or of thanksgiving? What experiences must we come through to get to a point of coming clean with God with open and honest confessions? How much stress must be in our lives before we allow our spirits to pray through us in an unknown tongue speaking directly to God? I know there are different teachings on the subject of praying in tongues and it scares a lot of people because of all the misunderstanding surrounding it; but what will it take for us to go to God directly and ask Him about it? We rely on others too much for some things when we can go directly to the source and get some answers.
So back to my question, what is your worst case scenario that will motivate you to fall on your knees before God with a prayer other than a prayer of petition? I want to share a story from the book of Luke with you because it is one that we do not hear a lot about when we hear messages of Christ’s birth. Turn to Luke chapter two and we will start at verse twenty-five. Jesus was not eight days old and so they took Him to the temple to offer a sacrifice to God. When they got to the temple, they met a righteous man name Simeon. Simeon had been told by the Spirit of God that he would not die until he saw the Christ. He had been given a special insight to be able to recognize Him. Now let’s start at verse twenty-five of Luke chapter two.
“And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, ‘Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:25-32)
You may be thinking his proclamation was nothing out of the ordinary, but consider this. God had made a promise to Him and God fulfilled the promise. Two things happened when this promise was fulfilled: one Simeon saw Jesus and recognized Him; and two because this had been fulfilled, he was ready to die and be with his Maker. This fulfillment of the promise meant that He could die at anytime after that and he was ready. When he picked up the baby Jesus, he began to praise and bless God for what He had done in bringing Jesus into the world to save us.
What will God have to do for us for us to change how we communicate with Him? Will we have to experience a life and death situation? Will we have to experience the loss of something we hold dear and have it replaced? Will we have to be down to our last dime before we will reach out to Him in a way unfamiliar to us? What is your worst case scenario that you must come through before you are willing to change how you communicate with your loving heavenly Father?
As you consider what your worst case scenario is, I am wondering why. Why must we allow ourselves to get to a worse case scenario before we will change how we communicate with God? You do not have to wait. You can start today with giving Him thanks and praise. You can start today with giving him adoration. You can start today by just talking to Him because you want to share with Him your day. Just like talking to a parent or a best friend. You don’t really need anything, you just want to talk and hear their voice. Try talking to God and then listening for His voice.
I will be back in two weeks with the second part of this message on why some of our prayers go unanswered. May God continue to bless and keep you.
